


Lawless car ballet

by Sylvalum



Series: livin' is easy [5]
Category: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Driving Lessons, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-01-05
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:18:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22137358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sylvalum/pseuds/Sylvalum
Summary: “I think,” Jin begins slowly, stirring the quiet. “I think Mikhail might actually have been better at driving when he was seven.”
Relationships: Satahiko | Mikhail & Shin | Jin, background hazorin
Series: livin' is easy [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1422580
Comments: 5
Kudos: 27





	Lawless car ballet

**Author's Note:**

> title from _in this place_ by Julia Michaels, aka. that song from Wreck it Ralph 2 about the violent racing game, bc that song reminded me i should finish this :) it's kind of unpolished but i wanted this out of my wips.  
-anyway, Yeehaw 4½ : a mostly true story. aka Mikhail fails at driving. set a few years later than the other fics in the series bc i’m not about to let a 6-y/o kid _drive_

“Everything’s great. Everything’s great. Everything- oh my god _ how do I brake-” _

“It’s the two pedals on the-”

With a jerk, the car abruptly stops. Hanging completely still in the middle of a deep patch of shrubs, the whole vehicle tilting gently downward, the car lights staring aimlessly out into the gloomy post-sunset forest, not a single wheel of the car still on the road.

“It stopped.” Mikhail gulps down a breath and bows his head, hands still holding the wheel in a white-knuckled grip. “It fucking stopped. To what gods do I have to make blood sacrifices for as a, a thanks, oh-”

“It stopped,” Jin agrees flatly from the passenger seat next to him. “Alright.”

Mikhail breathes out. “Alright. So. Next! How do I make it reverse?”

“You want to try and reverse?” Jin doesn’t, actually, raise an eyebrow here because sometimes he’s nice like that, and this is his son and all. “Well. Okay then.” With endless fatherly patience, Jin shows him how to put the gear shift in the correct position, explains his way through all the pedals and the handbrake again, then reminds him of which order to pull what, and finally, Mikhail takes another deep breath, puts his feet on the pedals, pushes, and-

-the car doesn’t move. It goes backward maybe an inch before it stops, the motor and wheels running but the car getting nowhere.

“Alright!” Mikhail says again, fervently. “Alright. It’s stuck.”

“It’s stuck,” Jin agrees mildly.

“Can I let go of the pedals? Is it - how do I turn the engine off?”

“You don’t need to, just - stop pushing in the pedals.”

Mikhail tentatively withdraws his feet and lets go of the wheel. The car, fortunately, does not spontaneously zip off even deeper into the woods with a burst of speed at this, and remains obediently stuck.

“Alright,” Jin says then. “Next, I think we’re going to have to swap seats so I can try getting us out…”

“About that,” Mikhail says, then glances guiltily out his car door window, where a thick tree is looming _ very _ inappropriately close to the car. Almost close enough to gently caress the hood and rustle sweet nothings into the side-mirrors. 

“Ah,” Jin says.

“Doesn’t mom like, keep a saw in the trunk?”

Jin rubs a hand over his face, deeply unenthused at the prospect of having to learn how to handle a motorsaw tonight, and says, “Maybe. Can’t you first _ try _opening it at least?”

“Oh boy,” Mikhail murmurs several times like a litany, opening the door as far as the tree allows, which is not a lot. Then he gets down and eels out of the car, shimmying down and disappearing into the bushes, triumphantly escaping from his metal prison.

Jin eyes the door critically while Mik sprouts up again by the road. “This might work…”

They swap seats, and Jin _ does _ manage to get past the tree and into the driver’s seat, despite the jealous embrace of the tree. Getting the car to _ move _is a whole other story though. He switches gears, tries to drive forwards and back, and riskily floors the gas. Nothing happens. The car rumbles and makes general car noises, but the bushes refuse to let the car move even a foot.

“Oh man. Oh fuck. I’m so sorry dad, we’re never getting this car back. It’s one with the forest now-”

“Calm down,” Jin chides gently. “I’m going to… call your mothers.”

He calls Lora, who doesn’t pick up, and Haze who also doesn’t pick up, but her pic on Jin’s phone is very cute so he doesn’t feel too bothered for a moment there.

“Well,” he says then, as he realises that no one’s coming for them. “They didn’t pick up. I’ll try again in a few minutes, but in the meantime…”

Mikhail stares blankly out through the window. Jin sighs. And then there’s a great big honk from behind them, and they both startle and spin around.

“Malos!” Mik exclaims, immediately recognising Malos’s truck. “He can help us!”

“Yeah,” Jin says somewhat unenthusiastically, already imagining how long Malos is going to joke about this situation before it gets old. Probably only a few decades or so, if Jin’s lucky.

They get out of the car.

“Howdy idiots,” Malos tells them, already grinning, as they meet outside of their vehicles. “Need some help?”

Jin sighs deeply. “Yes.”

Then they of course need something for Malos’s truck to attach to their car with, but after searching through Malos’s suspiciously empty truck - “look, there was a fire, I had to throw away all my shit” - and the trunk of Jin’s car, which contains blankets, a motorsaw, and a crowbar… they don’t find a rope. Or even any kind of hook, or well, _ anything _ that could help them.

The problem is that Jin is _ sure _ that the car included an attachment for towing when he bought it. 

“Maybe it’s at the front of the car!” Mik suggests, and so they fruitlessly search some more.

“I can’t believe this,” Jin complains, after half an hour has passed and they’ve still gotten nowhere. “Mik, call your moms. Me and Malos will… uh…”

“You could get in the car and drive while I push it,” Malos suggests.

Jin considers this. “Ugh, fine.”

Mikhail scuttles out of the way, and then they try that. Jin burns some more rubber and Malos gets to flex his impressive biceps, but the car doesn’t move more than an inch. Exhaust fumes rise into the gloomy Tornan night and Jin’s mood nose-dives further.

“Um,” Mikhail says. “I called mama and she said she and mom will get here in twenty minutes? Maybe?”

“That’s great,” Jin says, dragging a hand over his face and leaning against the godforsaken tree. “That is… great.”

* * *

After two hours of intense work, Haze finally ended up being the one to pull the car out of the bushes, and they all could go home. After that, none in their family felt very keen on any more driving lessons for the foreseeable future, so Mikhail’s next misfortunate driving tutor ended up being… Malos.

Jin came along to supervise, agreeing to let Malos do it only as long as they used Malos’s truck for it. It has a manual gear shift too, so the truck works just fine. Apart from the fact that Mikhail still hasn’t gotten the hang of how to start a car _ gently, _ that is. And when Malos’s truck isn’t started _ gently, _ it refuses to budge altogether.

It’s been fifteen minutes, and they still haven’t left the driveway.

“You’re doing great,” Malos says in a voice flatter than 2D. “Just remember, Mik. Do it _ slowly. _ Slowly _ all the way. _”

“Right,” Mik says, then attempts to start the car again, taking his foot off the pedals… too fast. The truck jerks angrily but doesn't start. In the back Jin sits and wonders quietly how much longer Malos’s patience will hold, or if he’ll finally give up and let Mik cheat by allowing him to try starting the car the easier way.

Malos lets out a long, long sigh. “You know what,” he says. “Let’s just do this the simpler way instead. We can practice starting some more later. _ Much _ later.”

“Yes!” Mikhail cheers, then immediately looks like he bit into a lemon as he probably realises this means he has to try_ driving _agan. “Right. Yes.”

Malos instructs Mikhail while Jin puts on his seatbelt, and then Mikhail finally gets the car to start, slowly oh so slowly driving away from the cloud of exhaust fumes they left in the driveway. The endless Alettan fields sprawl out in front of them, fields of wheat and rye and corn and a single, perfect gravel road.

Mikhail drives along it, first as slowly as possible, until finally he feels brave enough to try pressing on the gas. “Great,” Malos is telling him, looking more and more alive with every metre that Mikhail isn’t driving them into a ditch. “Good job. Now see that hill? Drive up the top of it and then turn left; you think you can do that?”

The hill looms in front of them, grassy and ominous in the otherwise flat and forest-blanketed landscape.

“Yeah,” Mikhail says. “Sure. I can do that.” He tightens his grip on the wheel.

“You’re doing good, Mik,” Jin says, even as he braces himself.

“Yeah, keep driving,” Malos insists.

And Mikhail starts to drive up the hill, keeping them nicely in the middle of the road - and _ then _ he sees the turn he’ll have to make immediately after cresting the hill and Jin can almost _ see _ the moment his spirit crumbles. “Oh shit,” he says, and lets go off the gas and the brake and the wheel, withdrawing into the seat.

“No!” Malos snaps.

“Oh my_ god,” _ Mikhail yelps, as he realises that the car will of course start to roll backwards down the hill unless he’s pushing down on the brake, and he scrambles for control.

But it’s too late, it’s too late - Jin winces along with Mikhail as the truck sinks down backwards into the ditch with an incredibly noticeable lurch, and then finally stops. 

There’s a heavy silence.

Then Malos says, “I cannot- _ Kid. _ You found the one _ single _ hill in all of Aletta. And then you drove - _ halfway _ \- up it. And stopped. In the middle of the hill. And _ then _ you turned off the brake-”

“Malos, please,” Mikhail says. “Just. Please. Can you get a tractor. This is giving me psychological trauma-”

_ “You _ let us roll backwards into the ditch! You’re coming and getting help _ with me.” _

“No, I’m coming,” Jin says quickly. “Mikhail, you can stay here and guard the truck and-”

“Reflect on your mistakes!” Malos snaps.

“No, don’t bully him,” Jin chastises, before continuing, “While me and Malos go get that Zeke guy, the one with the tractor. It’s all going to be fine,” Jin says, leaning forward from the backseat in an effort to smile directly at Mikhail. Mik just nods fervently, his hands still glued to the wheel. “Alright. Then we’ll just…” Jin makes a gesture, and then sits back to unclasp his seatbelt, before getting out of the car together with Malos. 

Right. 

“I think,” Jin says to Malos, as they start to trek back towards civilisation, “That actually, Mikhail’s improved a bit since last time.”

“Oh, really,” Malos says. “I couldn’t tell.”

* * *

Wednesday night, and Jin, Haze and Lora are sitting together in the kitchen, each of them with a mug of tea. Sugarpuff and Daisy - their newest kittens - are lying and sleeping in the bucket next to Jin’s armchair, and after watching those tiny balls of fur for a while, Jin finally feels ready to broach the subject. “I think,” he begins, stirring the quiet. “I think Mikhail might actually have been better at driving when he was seven.” 

“Oh?” Haze says, looking up from her sewing. She’s sitting at the kitchen table while Lora is slumped over the beanbag in the corner, still wearing her dirty overalls from working in the garden. Her tea mug is standing on the floor next to her, cooling.

“He really isn’t getting any better,” Jin says quietly. “I don’t think I can teach him, Haze.”

“It_ is _ a very stressful skill to learn,” Haze debates back, just as softly as Jin. “just the pressure of needing to be good at it? He’s probably just been too nervous to get the hang of it.”

Jin mulls it over. “That might be true,” he concedes. “But still. How am I supposed to teach him?”

“Maybe Lora or I could have a go at it?” Haze suggests, speaking quietly seeing as Lora is still dead to the world, snoring a little.

“Please,” Jin agrees. “And use the cheapest car, and prepare for anything.”

Haze smirks a little. “Aw,” she says. “I think I’ve got a handle on it, don’t you worry, sweetheart.”

Jin shakes his head, smiling a little. “Well then. Best of luck to you.”

* * *

Mikhail really does need a driving license. He lives out in the countryside, miles away from any city, so if he wants to be able to do any grocery shopping, or go to a cinema, or basically _ anything ever, _ he’ll need a car. And he does have a car, shitty though it may be. It’s just the goddamned license that’s the problem.

So when he drives into the ditch _ again, _this time with both of his mothers in the car with him and watching, he feels a sudden and nearly unstoppable urge to leap out of the car and start screaming and kicking tufts of grass around.

“Again,” he says instead, through gritted teeth, and clenches the wheel with the same intensity one chokes a murder victim with.

“Mikhail,” Lora says, always the calm and reasonable one. “Hey, don’t worry about it. We’ll get the car out of the ditch and then you can try again!”

_ “Exactly!” _ Mikhail snaps. “Again! And again and again! And I never get _ any better!” _

“Mik-” Haze attempts, and Mikhail hisses.

“Mikhail,” Lora says. “I get it. It’s difficult to have to struggle up again and again, just do it all over and over. But even though maybe it doesn’t _ feel _ that way, I _ promise _ you - you’re improving.”

“No I’m not,” Mikhail mutters.

“Yes you are,” Lora counters immediately. “You got the hang of starting the car, didn’t you? That’s already a big step.”

“Yeah,” Haze says. “And every step counts!”

Mikhail lets go off the wheel then, but only so he can throw up his hands in a moment of wordless agony before then gripping it tight again._ Fuck _ that shit. But there’s no way escaping this either, so, by all the deities in the fucking country - he’s going to have to do it _ anyway. _

He’s not going to let a measly car and road defeat him, never. He’s going to _ do this. _

* * *

It’s a saturday morning when they try it again. Jin unlocks the car, Mikhail takes the driver’s seat and Jin gets in beside him, ready to try and either instruct or inspire, whatever Mikhail might need. And Mikhail starts the car on his second try, shifts gears and deactivates the hand brake and starts driving.

They’re aiming for the hill again, and Mikhail keeps the car going at an even pace - not too fast, not too slow.

So far so good.

They get to the base of the hill and Mik keeps driving, his face determined, the car going higher up the hill and then - the curve of the road. Jin braces himself for the sudden stop-

-but it doesn’t come. JIn watches as Mikhail keeps on driving, up the top of the hill and then trying to turn left.

Bushes screech against the sides of the car, clawing at the metal. Mikhail swears under his breath, but keeps on turning the wheel, eyes on the road, and then-

He’s done it. They’re past the turn. They’re going down a perfectly straight road down to the golden fields of wheat, and Jin feels himself grinning, surprised and happy and most of all stupidly _ proud. _

“Hey, you did it,” he says. “You _ did it, _ Mik! You did amazing.”

“Yeah,” Mikhail says, grinning even wider. “Yeah! I did it. So what’s next, dad?”

“Well…” Jin glances out the window, at the fields going by first slowly and then faster and faster. “How would you feel about parallel parking?”

**Author's Note:**

> still planning to do an Actual part 5, but idk when


End file.
